1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus capable of discharging a medium in a backward direction opposite to a forward direction in which the medium fed into the image forming apparatus, and a method of discharging a medium in a backward direction opposite to a forward direction in which the medium is fed into an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Publication No. H04-152164 discloses a printer that discharges a medium in a backward direction opposite to a forward direction in which the medium fed into the image forming apparatus. This printer receives print data and printer control commands including linefeed commands and a paper discharge command from a host personal computer. The printer then performs a printing operation and a paper transporting operation on a line-by-line basis in accordance with the print data and printer control commands.
If the print data for a page has a line feed command at the end of the print data, the line feed command is executed so that the medium is advanced forward by one line. A medium discharging operation is then performed to discharge the medium in a discharging direction opposite to the direction in which the paper is advanced forward by the line feed command. This implies that discharging the paper takes longer than necessary.
The present invention was made in view of the aforementioned drawbacks.